Never Meant To Be
by Akira Kiyoshi
Summary: 'My power was sealed away, my zanpakuto had been taken away. I was nothing, and I was trapped here in the seireitei.' I was bored in class, what can I say. UlquiorraXOc, maybe Ichigo or ByakuyaXOc later on if I continue this.
1. Chapter 1

It was my third day in the ivory tower. A beam of sunlight came in through the solitary window, and I kneeled in it. I detested the sunlight, and so I chose to suffer. I had failed, in a sense, and so I deserved this pain. My power was sealed away, my zanpakuto had been taken away. I was nothing, and I was trapped here in the Seireitei.

Sighing, I dropped my head and tried to focus. It was no good. I could not feel his spirit from here. The intricate green eye on my left shoulder blade meant nothing here. Ulquiorra was so far away, and all my power had left me. _Please._ A single tear fell.

It felt like forever since anyone had come. In reality it had been four days. When the doors finally opened, they revealed the substitute shinigami. He was alone. I stood up and faced him. Ichigo Kurosaki. His face had a strange expression. I almost couldn't place it. Remorse. "Don't you dare look at me like that." I stared at him, my face blank. "They're all dead," he admitted quietly. My breath caught for a second, but I refused to falter. Not yet. "Who is 'all'?"

"Aizen, Ulquiorra, Gin, Grimmjow, everyone."

"Well it appears you're fine," it wasn't until I spoke these words that I fell. Dropping to my knees I stared at the cold, white ground. It was a familiar feeling, a comforting one.

"It was you." It was not a question. I closed my eyes and shook my head. He had killed them all. Looking up I found he would not meet my eyes. Coward. I stood up and stepped closer to him. With a swift movement I undid the sash at my waist and slipped the yukata from my shoulders. His eyes were wide, he didn't know what I was doing. Turning slightly I exposed my back to him. "Tell me, is it still there?"

I could hear him take a few steps forward. His hand was warm as it traced whatever was left of the marking. "It's just grey now." He dropped his hand back to his side and I turned around.

"Kill me." I did not care that my yukata was revealing most of my torso at the moment. I had lost all honor the second I had been captured. He stared at me blankly. "What? Why?"

"You took everyone I ever loved away from me. Kill me, now." Tears were welling up in my eyes. His gaze dropped, and I stepped forward, my hand going to his neck. "You bastard, you don't even have the guts to finish me." My grip tightened gently on his soft skin. Brown eyes met mine. "No," his voice was soft. I snapped. Pulling back my hand I gave a swift hit to his solar plexus with the heel of my hand. He was caught off guard and went flying.

My composure broke and I fell to my knees again, this time the tears coursed. _He's gone. He's gone._ I couldn't control myself. They were all gone. The only people I'd ever cared about, and they were gone. Arms wrapped around me and I flinched away. "Don't touch me," I managed to pant out. My breath was catching, my face was wet with tears. "Just shut up," his voice held a hard edge, but he was gentle. I cried, and then I couldn't breath anymore. "Why?" I whispered, and then passed out, falling into him.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: It's 2:30 am so like the first chapter this hasn't been edited. My apologies.

* * *

Moonlight. Opening my eyes I found the room filled with the soft, pale light. This could not be the tower. Blinking away the sleep I took in my surroundings. It was a room of dark blue and cream. Large shoji doors were open onto the night and I spotted shinigami on either side of them. Where was I? Making a quiet sound of agony and confusion I sat up. Everything hurt. Then there was Ichigo.

He sat curled up in a chair in the opposite corner of the room, asleep. Bastard. I remember now, what happened before I woke up here. I went to leap out of my bed but I was jerked backwards. I swore loudly and thrashed around trying to get free. There was a collar around my neck, and apparently a chain attached it to the bed. The same went for my wrists. The two shinigami at the open doors, and two that I suppose had been outside the main door rushed in, and Kurosaki awoke.

"What's going on?" One of the shinigami asked. Ichigo looked at me, registered my expression, and shook it off. "Nothing, go back to your posts," he directed. They nodded and left as asked. I just stared at him, hurt, and angry. "What, are you doing?" I ground out, furious. At least in the tower I had been left alone. Now, I was chained like an animal, and there were guards. Multiple guards.

"I'm trying to help you," he replied, stressing "help". I scowled, and he returned the look. "If you wanted to 'help', you would have killed me. You stupid human brat."  
"Why the hell would I kill you?"  
"Why won't you?"  
"You haven't killed anyone."  
"You think I'm not capable of that?" He froze momentarily. It was almost as if he had forgotten what hollows were. What we did. What we ate.

"Tell me, do you think that when I was sent here, I wasn't out to kill? Oh no, you couldn't be that simple. Could you? Aizen-sama sent me to disrupt the Seireitei. The fact that I didn't manage to kill or permanently maim even one ranked shinigami means that I failed." Laughing bitterly I gave another few tugs at my wrist chains. "But you didn't." My eyes shot up to meet brown ones filled with pity. Did he think I was lying? He had no right to pity me. "I didn't have a chance," I spat back, giving a vicious, more determined tug at the chain on my right wrist. "I was told you were loose for two days. You had chances."  
"What can I say, I like to play with my food," I growled the last word gave one last tug with all the strength I could muster. It came free.

I smiled. Ichigo leapt from his seat and I saw his left hand outstretched, ready to pin my free limb. Out of reflex I raised my hand and a bolt of violet energy shot forth. Brown eyes widened in surprise, and the cero blasted through his shoulder. It was my turn to look surprised. I didn't know the restriction on my abilities had been lifted. That, and the cero had been pathetic. It should have decimated his entire torso. So maybe I didn't have my full power back.

As I watched the substitute shinigami stumble back in shock the guards caught on. Weapons drawn they rushed at me, and I laughed lightly. Their rough hands clamped on my shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, and I allowed myself to be pressed back down onto the mattress. "Kurosaki, what do you want us to do?" A blade was held against my throat waiting for just two words. They never came.

I stared at Ichigo with a raised brow as he recovered, emotionally anyways. He frowned and grabbed something from the wall just a few feet from my head. A flash of red was all I needed to understand. "No," I writhed but it got me nowhere. The force of four people pressing down on me was enough to keep me stalk still. Shit. He almost looked sorry to clasp the power suppressing collar back onto my neck. I looked away and made a noise of disgust. "Your own fault," he muttered. "Shut up," I whispered back. A quiet click made me frown and I saw the other, less restrictive collar was taken away, as well as its chain.

"I'm going to get Hanatarou to look at this. You can all leave. She's not going anywhere now." I stared at Ichigo's back as he turned it to me, setting the metal bindings on his chair as he passed it. There were no further words exchanged between any of us. Everyone took off quickly and silently. Once again, I was left alone. No power, less freedom, and more confusion about that stupid substitute shinigami and his stupid… compassion.


End file.
